Category: 2022 Reviews

Review: Bloom of Blood and Bone

Murder. Betrayal. Magic? One knight takes up his hammer to hunt a killer concealed. When dark arts and faith face off, will sorcery or swordsmanship win out? What chance can a mere mortal have against vampires and demonic forces? Is King’s Inquisitor Dunewell prepared to break the laws he has sworn to serve to discover and defeat a master of shrouded evil? Where is the line between hero and villain, saint and sinner?

Kingdom of Lethanor, 1648. Inquisitor Dunewell stands strong in a city scarred by corruption. A true warrior for justice, the newly assigned investigator jumps into the fray when a close physician friend is accused of murder. Vowing to find the real monster, he enters a deadly race against time and the tip of the executioner’s blade.

Ordered by superiors to wrap up the case quickly, the honorable man-at-arms digs deeply into clues pointing to demons and forbidden powers. But as more aristocrats are found brutally slain and vampire attacks foment mayhem, Dunewell must hunt down a magical foe before his city falls into violent madness.

Fires that Forge is the first book in the gripping Lords of Order & Chaos epic fantasy series, one of four series in the Bloodlines Reforged Saga. If you like thrilling mysteries, hidden enemies, and fast-paced action, then you’ll love R. J. Hanson’s sword and sorcery tale.

Buy Fires That Forge and dispel the darkness today!

Review: Witch’s Knight

Sarai Reinhart is a witch in hiding. Having inherited rare dual gifts of healing and necromancy from her late Jewitch mother and cruel German father, she needs to be constantly on her guard to avoid those who would use her.

But even a skilled witch cannot run from everyone. After a mental breakdown, someone sees her turn a mouse into a zombie, and she is captured by an organization of witch hunters. To her great surprise, salvation arrives in the form of vampires and one vampire in particular: the beautiful and deadly Knight Commander Marcelle. Sarai is brought to the local vampire kingdom’s seat of power, a place no witch has seen and survived, and finds herself falling for her rescuer. Can she trust the vampire woman when Sarai’s blood holds secrets that could change the occult world forever?

Review: Crossroads

How far would you go to bring back someone you love?

When Chris’ son dies in a tragic car crash, her world is devastated. The walls of grief close in on Chris’ life until, one day, a small cut on her finger changes everything. A drop of blood falls from Chris’ hand onto her son’s roadside memorial, and, later that night, Chris thinks she sees his ghost outside her window. Only, is it really her son’s ghost, or is it something else – something evil? Soon Chris is playing a dangerous game with forces beyond her control in a bid to see her son, Trey, alive once again.

Review: Beauty’s Curse

The death of a tyrant king should have set her free. Instead, Sadira could be dead by dawn.

After the fall of Alaric Khan, Sadira finds herself still at his mercy, held siege in his castle by a deadly curse: Alaric’s ultimate revenge. Surrounded by chaos, rising paranoia, and disasters, Sadira discovers an unlikely ally in the barbarian warrior Bannon Sha’kurukh. Alaric’s killer…and her new master.

To escape Alaric’s power, Sadira must bring Bannon into her secret world of domination, possession, and desire. But their quest to uncover Alaric’s secrets – and their own ruthless passions – draw them closer and closer to an unspeakable conclusion.

The source of the curse…can only be Sadira herself.

Fans of The Witcher, Immortals After Dark, and Anne Rice’s Sleeping Beauty series will love this high-heat fantasy romance full of dangerous liaisons and passionate themes of power exchange.

Review: These Deadly Games

Let’s play a game.

You have 24 hours to win. If you break my rules, she dies. If you call the police, she dies. If you tell your parents or anyone else, she dies.

Are you ready?

When Crystal Donavan gets a message on a mysterious app with a picture of her little sister gagged and bound, she agrees to play the kidnapper’s game. At first, they make her complete bizarre tasks: Steal a test and stuff it in a locker, bake brownies, make a prank call.

But then Crystal realizes that each task is meant to hurt—and kill—her friends, one by one. But if she refuses to play, the kidnapper will kill her sister. Is someone trying to take her team out of the running for a gaming tournament? Or have they uncovered a secret from their past, and wanting them to pay for what they did….

Author of All Your Twisted Secrets, Diana Urban’s explosive sophomore novel, These Deadly Games, is a must-listen, propulsive YA thriller with deadly stakes, stunning twists, and a shocking ending you’ll never forget—perfect for fans of I Know What You Did Last Summer and One of Us Is Lying.

Review: Childhood, Interrupted

In this evocative, personal piece, Dr. Sanjay Gupta reflects on his life as a parent during this unprecedented time. He shares his fears and questions about raising his three young daughters amid our current public health crisis—and gives listeners a candid glimpse into how he’s navigating the pandemic at home. The neurosurgeon and CNN chief medical correspondent helps parents think about this time from the perspective he knows best: the workings of the brain. Equal parts essay, advice, and reassurance, Gupta reminds us that despite the relentless challenges of growing up during a pandemic, the kids will be all right.

Review: Halloween Party 3

Celebrate with three short Halloween stories that each have a different twist. Each of these Halloween tales is self contained, is professionally narrated, and lasts for about one hour.

Occasionally Mischievous

Neve longs for the past, where Halloween meant hanging out with friends. So when she finds a store filled with Halloween nostalgia, she is absolutely thrilled. She completes impulse buy after impulse buy, until she accidentally gets something that wasn’t for sale: a magical witch’s hat with untold powers. But magic, even if accidentally given, comes with a price.

Subcontracted Death

When a doctor tells you that you are ripe for the scythe, you begin to wonder about the harvest. And so began my contract with death itself. A contract that has led to a legendary healing artifact. An artifact that can give immortality. But immortality is a prize that destroys the winner.

Decay’s Destruction

Everyone knows not to go out at night unless you want to deal with monsters. That was until a magical item allowed its user to ‘smell’ when a monster was near. Now there are ambitions to build a monster alarm system throughout town. But some creatures, such as the necromancer, have plans of their own.

Review: Agent 355

From Marie Benedict, New York Times bestselling author of The Only Woman in the Room, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie, and co-author of The Personal Librarian, comes a captivating work of historical fiction about a young female spy who may have changed the course of American history.

The tide is turning against the colonists in the Revolutionary War, and 18-year-old Elizabeth Morris cannot sit by idly. Quietly disdainful of her Tory parents, who drag her along to society events and welcome a British soldier into their home during their occupation of New York City, Elizabeth decides to take matters into her own hands. She realizes that, as a young woman, no one around her believes that she can comprehend the profound implications of being a nation at war – she is, effectively, invisible. And she can use this invisibility to her advantage. Her unique access to British society leads her to a role with General George Washington’s own network of spies: the Culper Ring.

Based on true events, Agent 355 combines adventure, romance, and espionage to bring to life this little-known story of a hero who risked her life to fight for freedom against all odds.

Review: Charlotte’s Feathers

A young man named Benjamin Strong has just lost everything after the death of his parents and girlfriend. After a failed suicide attempt, Benjamin wakes up to find an angelic version of his girlfriend, Charlotte, sitting by the edge of his bed. She tells him that he has seven days left to live – and that he has a very important decision to make: Die alone, or take all of humanity with him.

Reviews © Copyright 2022 Korra Baskerville